New mobile app encourages citizens to be watchdogs

Thanks to a $400,000 state grant, citizens who live, work in or travel through 54 communities in Massachusetts, including Quincy, Braintree and Randolph, can file complaints digitally through a new mobile app called Commonwealth Connect.

By Patrick Ronan

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Patrick Ronan

Posted Jun. 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 21, 2013 at 9:01 PM

By Patrick Ronan

Posted Jun. 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 21, 2013 at 9:01 PM

» Social News

A Quincy resident shared a concern about a sharp edge on a broken guard rail on Sea Street. The problem was relayed to the city’s public works department, and it was later fixed.

The broken guard rail is an example of the types of issues posted on SeeClickFix.com, the digital version of a complaint box that allows residents to report non-emergency problems in their local communities, on issues ranging from potholes to faulty street lights to illegal trash disposal.

Now, thanks to a state grant, residents who live, work or travel through 54 communities in Massachusetts – including Quincy, Braintree and Randolph – can file complaints on SeeClickFix.com through a new mobile app called Commonwealth Connect.

Quincy and Randolph are already using the app, and Braintree is joining soon.

“We’re asking them to be our eyes and ears out there,” Randolph Town Manager David Murphy said of the app.

The apps are compatible with iPhones and Droid phones and can be downloaded for free at the Apple and Google app stores. Although anyone can upload the app, only complaints filed in the participating cities and towns will be viewed, and potentially resolved, by municipal workers.

Rachael Neff, a spokeswoman for the state Executive Office of Administration and Finance, said more than half the requests filed via Commonwealth Connect have come from municipal officials.

“Elected officials, department heads and city workers will often use apps like this when they notice things that need to be fixed, so that they can keep track of them,” she said.

The requests are given one of three designations – open, acknowledged or closed – depending where officials are in resolving a particular issue. “Open” means the matter isn’t being looked into; “acknowledged” means it’s actively being looked into; and “closed” means it has been fixed.

Middleboro, Halifax and Whitman are also taking part in Commonwealth Connect, which is an extension of Boston’s Citizens Connect app. Boston officials decided to extend the app’s network to other cities and towns in the state.

Funding for the design and implementation of Citizens Connect came from a $400,000 grant from the Executive Office of Administration and Finance. Neff said the grant has been used in its entirety, and it’s up to Boston leaders whether to let additional communities join the network.

Participating cities and towns have 10 categories to choose from, including potholes, debris, traffic lights, trees and graffiti. The categories vary based on a community’s geography and infrastructure.

Page 2 of 2 - “If someone wanted to report a pothole, they would automatically be routed to the highway department,” Christopher Griffin, assistant to Braintree Mayor Joseph C. Sullivan, said. “If someone wanted to report something electrical, we could set it up to send it to (the Braintree Electric Light Department).”

Christopher Walker, spokesman for Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, said although Quincy has been using SeeClickFix.com for two years, residents are much more likely to file complaints through a constituent-service request form available on the city’s website.

He said the city checks the requests daily and is able to quickly address about a third of them. However, he said about 20 percent of the complaints are outside the purview of city government, like the complaint recently filed about a noisy smoke alarm.

Patrick Ronan may be reached at pronan@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @PRonan_Ledger.